Wrongful Conviction: How a false confession led to a 16-year prison sentence for an innocent teen
True Crime News: The Podcast
True Crime News
4.3 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 April 2023
⏱️ 51 minutes
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Summary
This Week on True Crime Daily The Podcast: Jeffrey Descovic was only a teenager when he was coerced into a false confession for the brutal assault and murder of a classmate. After 16 years behind bars, DNA evidence exonerated him and revealed the real killer had taken another victim.
Jeffrey Deskovic & Jia Wertz join Ana Garcia.
Read the report on Jeffrey’s wrongful conviction: https://www.westchesterda.net/Jeffrey%20Deskovic%20Comm%20Rpt.pdf
Check out Jia’s documentary here:
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A word of warning. This podcast explores graphic and disturbing stories and includes some |
| 0:05.3 | strong language. It, therefore, may not be suitable for our young listeners or other |
| 0:10.4 | folks who may find it disturbing. |
| 0:12.8 | Hello and welcome to a special episode of True Crime Daily, The Podcast. I'm your host, |
| 0:17.8 | Annagar Sia. Everyone in the world of True Crime has a story to tell about a case they |
| 0:21.8 | worked or they lived through. Some are high-profile, some of you have never heard of, but they are |
| 0:26.5 | all fascinating. Today's case is about the search for justice. After a teenager was wrongfully |
| 0:32.9 | convicted of the sexual assault and murder of his high school classmate, even though pre-trial |
| 0:38.6 | DNA evidence excluded him from the crime scene. The jury convicted on the strength of his own false |
| 0:46.0 | confession, which was coerced by police, without his mother or an attorney present. Our guest today |
| 0:53.4 | are proof of how the human spirit and the truth will ultimately prevail. With us is Jeffrey |
| 0:59.9 | Deskavik, who has spent 16 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit. And Gia Wertz, |
| 1:08.2 | a writer, filmmaker, and a co-host of the Speaking of Crime podcast, Gia's documentary Conviction, |
| 1:15.7 | is about Jeffrey's exoneration. Welcome you to. I'm so thrilled to have you on the podcast. It is |
| 1:22.4 | just such an honor. I think they're having us. Thank you, Hannah. You know, Jeffrey, the thing |
| 1:29.4 | about your cases, you were 17 when you went to prison and when you came out, you were a 33-year-old |
| 1:36.0 | man and so much had changed in the world, so much had happened to you. And I always think of the |
| 1:44.7 | sadness of when someone speaks truth and no one believes them. Yeah, definitely. Well, I mean, when |
| 1:51.5 | you're in prison wrongfully, you know, it's very hard to get anybody to hear you. I mean, there's |
| 1:57.1 | always a ton of media coverage once exoneration happens, but of course, the critical time period to |
| 2:01.8 | receive that is while the injustice is still a foot. Was there anyone in your life, Jeff, who did |
| 2:09.4 | believe you? Well, I mean, my mother believed me, my extended family believed me. It's just that |
... |
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